Also of note is a piece in The Guardian where a Chinese-born journalist is critical of the changes Disney's making. She makes some good points.

Quote:

I was seven years old when it was released, and as a half-Chinese girl born and raised in pre-handover Hong Kong, the film had special importance to me, with its combination of east-west values, musical numbers (Honour to Us All, I’ll Make a Man Out of You and Reflection have aged extremely well), and female protagonist who kicks some serious butt while retaining her moral integrity and reinforcing family values. To this day, my Mulan sword, Mushu soft toy and Mulan dolls are somewhere safe in storage at home in Hong Kong.

To say I was excited by the prospect of a live action remake of Mulan is an understatement. The film joins the plethora of live-action remakes of Disney’s 90s renaissance hits, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. All of these retain their musical numbers. Why then has Disney decided to make Mulan a gritty realist film? Particularly considering there are already Chinese versions of the legend: General Hua Mu-lan (1964) and Mulan: Rise of a Warrior (2009).

Although you can’t judge a film by its trailer, the muted, unhumorous tone of this teaser hints at the film’s objective. Mulan is no longer the self-conscious teenager who disappoints her parents by failing to become the ideal wife, before her fierce and beautiful transformation into the woman she wants to be. Instead, she appears solemn and resolute: Mulan is a now robotic warrior. The removal of the songs is a big mistake: it eliminates the joy and emotional heart that Disney do so well. I can’t help wonder why Disney are remaking Mulan at all if they are simply going to pander to the nationalistic values espoused by the mainland Chinese government – especially as it looks exactly like the kind of “Imperial dramas” that the state media are currently taking aim at.

Chinese children who grew up with this film the way that American children grew up with it were fans of the film and characters like Mushu, but every other generation of China heavily criticized it when it came out. And most of the complaints are still coming from Americans even though it isn't even their culture and what they loved was a heavily flawed product that is about as authentic as P.F. Chang's. Which probably explains then why for most young Americans, the China portrayed in Mulan is what they consider the real deal.

This is why I'm so glad that Coco managed to avoid these pitfalls and was something genuine and authentic to Mexican viewers rather than pander to the American version of Mexico which is Taco Bell.

For those who haven't, I highly recommend checking out the movie "Whale Rider." It was Niki Caro's second movie and centered on a young Maori girl who attempts to prove herself as worthy of being the chief of her tribe, a position long thought to be for men only. It's a great film and like "Mulan", also depicts a culture that's foreign to most westerners and does it in a respectful manner. It's the reason I trust Caro in adapting "Mulan." "Whale Rider" could even be considered her audition tape for the directing job, due to the thematic similarities in their stories.

If you're skeptical of her creative choices, maybe watching "Whale Rider" could remove a tiny bit of that skepticism.

_________________"There are two wolves and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. Which wolf wins? Whichever one you feed." - Casey Newton, Tomorrowland

What interesting and complicated politics. It sounds like the movie has already become a cultural lightning rod for the Chinese with expectations that Liu’s statements will positively impact the mainland box office. It’s unfortunate that her opinion (I should almost put an asterisk here because there is question as to whether the social media post was the result of state coercion) is so popular outside of Hong Kong, but not unexpected.

_________________Avatar and signature are Al Hirschfeld illustrations of Julie Andrews in Star! (1968).

Footage plays. In it, Mulan is prepped and dressed tightly and neatly. It looks uncomfortable. Her face is painted with make-up. Outside, she walks along and expresses her hunger but can't eat because it will ruin her make-up. She explains that no matter what face she makes, no one can tell what emotion she is feeling, and laughs with a friend. Later, she is told to be "quiet" and "graceful" to be a good wife as she prepares tea. "These are the qualities we see in Mulan. When a wife serves her husband, she must be silent, she must be invisible." A spider drops down from the ceiling and nears the teapot. Mulan covers it with the pot but is told to keep it in the center of the table. They debate moving the teapot but Mulan loses that conversation. The spider leaps onto one of the women and chaos ensues. The table is flipped and Mulan catches all of the pottery until her hair comes down and she drops all of them. They are shunned in the village as a failure to raise a good daughter.

Just as Mulan brings shame with the matchmaker. Soldiers come to request soldiers and Mulan's father is called in to fight, but is weak. Mulan and get family watch him fall. He stands up and accepts the calling.#D23Expo #D23Expo2019 @disneyd23 #disneyliveaction

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